The sun shines through the leaves, illuminating the trees with dappled light.
In a forest clearing filled with cool air, a man is doing one-finger push-ups with the index finger of his right hand.
He performed every movement in a very standardized manner, with sweat pouring from his forehead. He did not complain about being tired, but counted very calmly:
"Nine hundred and ninety-six...nine hundred and ninety-seven...nine hundred and ninety-eight...nine hundred and ninety-nine..."
After each one-finger push-up, a number will be reported, and the breath will be long and full, completely devoted to the training.
"one thousand……"
After finishing the thousandth one-finger push-up, the man's aura changed and he stood up from the ground suddenly.
"Very good. I have finished a thousand push-ups today. Next, I will run twenty laps around the village. I cannot stop in the middle, otherwise I will run fifty laps as a penalty."
To push oneself in such a cruel way, this is the purpose of life that the man - Metkai wants to fulfill.
Don't waste every minute and second of your youth, and push yourself every moment not to be satisfied with your current state.
There are many powerful enemies in this world waiting for you to defeat.
Arriving in front of a tree, Kai bent down and picked up the water bottle placed there, drinking happily.
Just when he finished drinking the water and was about to put down the water bottle, his ears suddenly moved, and a sharp breath came from behind without warning.
Without thinking too much, he quickly turned around, stretched out his palm, and firmly grasped the arm that was hitting his body, making the attacker's attack ineffective.
What followed was a brilliant white sword light, and a crescent-like slash was swung from bottom to top. Kai immediately let go of the attacker's wrist, and jumped back hard, thereby keeping the opponent safe. distance.
Kai's shoulders were shaking slightly as he kept a safe distance. It could be seen that it was very difficult to avoid that slash.
"As expected of you, Kai. I didn't expect that you could still dodge my attack when you were exhausted."
Kakashi easily performed tricks with the White Fang dagger in his hand, then put it back into the sheath behind his back and praised Gai.
Kai showed a pair of shining teeth and said, "Kakashi, don't forget, I am your lifelong rival. This level is not a problem at all."
"Really? I feel relieved to see that you are fine."
Kakashi's tone became relaxed when he saw the cheerful and confident smile on Kai's face.
Kai scratched his head, feeling at a loss.
"Why, did you come here specifically to comfort me, Kakashi?"
"Yes, after all, after Obito and Rin left, among your peers, you are the only one left who is my most cherished friend in Konoha."
Kakashi didn't hide his intentions. He leaned under the shade of a nearby tree and took out "Intimate Paradise" from his ninja tool bag. He looked at it with relish and said to Kai.
"Haha, then you will be disappointed, Kakashi, I don't feel sad at all. As for dad, even if he burned the last of his life, he died with a smile on his face. Moreover, as a genius, Ruri-sensei recognized dad. With all my efforts, what else do I have to regret?”
Kai replied, and there was no trace of resentment in his tone.
"Do you really think so?"
Kakashi asked casually.
Kai nodded, his eyes burning with fire of sincerity.
"A man who devotes all his youth and hard work will eventually die in a duel with a powerful enemy. Such a life will never leave any regrets. This is the path my father pursues. As his son, it is enough for me to respect him ”
"Yes, Uncle Dai has been pursuing the path of self-transcendence all his life. If you think so, maybe he can surpass Uncle Dai's achievements in the future."
Kakashi nodded in approval.
Matt Dai is undoubtedly a ninja who works tirelessly for life.
People like him have already spent all their youth and efforts in their past lives.
It would be too arrogant to say that such a person still has regrets in life.
This is an honorable man.
Kai inherited this will, and Kakashi believed that Kai would probably surpass his father in the future.
Kai understood this, and there was no resentment in his heart.
Because any resentment is disrespect for his father.
At the last moment of his life, his father tried his best to defeat the ninja, and then handed over this unfinished goal to his children to inherit and protect the village. Matt Dai's life has no regrets.
"How about it? This is a rare opportunity. Do you want to have a passionate youthful fight with me? Kakashi?"
Gai smiled in invitation at Kakashi, his eyes burning with a strong desire to fight.
"Oh, I'll forget it. The Anbu side has a lot of things to deal with recently, and it's rare for me to relax."
Kakashi glanced at Gai and lazily refused.
The Uchiha clan was exterminated, and the tasks that originally belonged to the Uchiha Guards were now assigned to the ANBU.
Dealing with various civil disputes in the village every day, I am a bit busy, and I have no time to compete with Kai.
After all, in the competition between himself and Kai, it would be impossible to tell the winner for a while.
Under the premise of using magic.
When Kai was about to say something, a figure suddenly appeared not far away, wearing the same ANBU costume as Kakashi, with a ninja sword on his back and an animal-shaped mask on his face.
When Kakashi saw this ANBU ninja appear, he closed the "Intimate Paradise" in his hand and sighed softly.
Really, I finally found the time to come here for some free time, do you have another mission?
Could it be that some villagers were drinking and causing trouble again, and the ANBU needed to go there to mediate?
Kakashi also felt a little bored after doing this all day long.
After all, he is also an Anbu. He deals with these trivial matters all day long, which feels a bit like he is overqualified.
The Uchiha clan was wiped out, and the bitter consequences of the lack of security systems were exposed.
"Tianzang, what's the matter?"
Kakashi walked over and asked.
Tenzo replied: "Captain Kakashi, you are really lazy. The team is almost busy right now."
"Why don't I take some time out to buy something? How about it? Is there another problem?"
Kakashi scratched his head helplessly.
"No, Mr. Hokage asked you to come over. It seems he has something to tell you."
Tenzo came to deliver the order.
"Hokage-sama? I understand."
Kakashi put "Intimate Heaven" in his ninja tool bag and kept it well. Since it was the Hokage's order, he couldn't continue to be lazy.
Then, Kakashi turned to look at Kai and said, "Well, Kai, I'll go over first."
"It's okay, Kakashi, the ANBU's work is important. If you want to compete, you can come to me at any time. Youth does not allow slacking off!"
Gai gave Kakashi a thumbs up, his exposed teeth shining brightly, motivating Kakashi to work with 100% energy.
"I said I'm not here for a competition...forget it, as long as you can look away."
Kakashi responded to Gai perfunctorily, and then left the woods with Tenzo.
Kai looked at Kakashi's retreating back and murmured to himself: "Look away?"
Immediately, a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
The feeling of being cared for by friends is also very good.
"Very good, let's complete today's training with this momentum! Next, we will run twenty laps around the village at full speed. If we can't finish it, we will increase it to fifty laps!"
Kai patted his face, his eyes flashing with passionate fighting spirit.
◎
"Anbu... minister? Let me be the one?"
In the office, Kakashi reconfirmed Hiruzen's statement and seemed a little unbelievable.
It has been almost eight years since he joined the ANBU. He was already a member of the ANBU when the Fourth Hokage was in power.
And he quickly became the squad leader.
Later, after the Third Hokage regained power, he was the first person among the new generation of Anbu to become the squad leader.
The speed of promotion was second only to Uchiha Itachi who had previously defected to Konoha.
However, the squad leader and the ANBU chief are two completely different concepts.
Because the power in the hands of the ANBU minister is great, it is powerful enough to replace the Hokage to a certain extent and completely control the ANBU organization.
There are not only 70 ANBU personnel, but 70 people are just the personnel responsible for actual operations. If you include the number of trainers and logistics management, the number will be even larger.
It can be said that the position of ANBU Minister is not inferior to the position of Jonin Squad Leader.
Even closer to the privileged class than the Jonin squad leader.
There is no doubt that this is a position that has reached the core of Konoha.
It is precisely for this reason that during the Third Hokage's reign, the position of ANBU minister always fell on the ninjas of the Sarutobi clan who were born in the Third Hokage, so that the ANBU would remain absolutely loyal to the Third Hokage.
Once loyalty issues arise in the Anbu, the consequences will be dire.
Because of this, Kakashi felt in disbelief.
"Takashi and Tsuruko sacrificed their lives. Now among the ANBU, you are the only one who can lead the ANBU. Don't refuse this proposal, Kakashi."
If Sarutobi Takashi and Sarutobi Uruko had not died on the battlefield in the Kingdom of Wind, Hiruzen would naturally not have replaced the ANBU minister at this time.
But the truth is so cruel. His eldest son and eldest daughter-in-law have died on the battlefield, and the ANBU cannot be leaderless.
In addition, he was also planning to hand over the position of the next Hokage to Tsunade. He would only wait until Jiraiya was fully prepared before the handover of Hokage could be carried out.
As a result, the ANBU minister naturally can no longer select jounin from the Sarutobi clan.
Kakashi is the sharp blade he left to Tsunade.
It can act as a deterrent both internally and externally.
When Tsunade came to power, he could quickly grasp the power of the ANBU and avoid any mistakes in the implementation of policies.
In response to Hiruzen's solemn request, Kakashi sighed, could only nod his head, and said with a wry smile: "I understand, Hokage-sama, although my ability cannot be compared with Minister Takashi, but since Hokage-sama trusts me so much, I I will also work hard to fulfill my duties as ANBU Minister."
Rather than actively accepting it, Kakashi at this moment seemed more like he had passively taken over the position of ANBU Minister.
He didn't know what Hiruzen's motivation was for giving him the position of the powerful ANBU minister, but if he could use this position to completely enter the core level of Konoha, then his long-term efforts would not be in vain.
"I won't say much about guidance. Kakashi, you have been working in ANBU for nearly ten years, and you are already familiar with various ANBU businesses. There is one more thing you need to do next. This is your The first mission after becoming the Minister of ANBU."
Hiruzen's face turned serious.
"Please speak, Hokage-sama."
Kakashi immediately entered ANBU minister mode.
The change of identity also means that the distance to one's 'goal' is getting closer and closer.
"Due to the genocide of the Uchiha clan, the security system in the village is now paralyzed, as you know. Now I plan to re-establish a security department, merge it into the ANBU system, and leave it to you to manage."
Hiruzen said looking into Kakashi's eyes.
There seemed to be more surprises than Kakashi imagined.
If the security force is also integrated into the ANBU and managed together, then the position of ANBU minister will have even greater power.
This means that Kakashi can place his own personnel at will among the four ANBU detachments, as well as the subsequent security force department.
"yes."
Kakashi replied solemnly.
"I have asked Shikaku to handle the manpower for the new guard force. When the time comes, I will leave it to you to review and discuss with Shikaku. Just wait until all personnel pass the test and report to me."
It wasn't that Hiruzen didn't want to personally examine it, but he got the news that Danzo seemed to be secretly plotting some taboo plan, and it seemed to be related to the tailed beast chakra.
Hiruzen needs to prevent Danzo from making some small moves. These things can only be managed by Kakashi, and he only needs to make the final verification.
It's also a good time to examine whether Kakashi's ability as the new ANBU minister is up to standard.
If you are not qualified, you can only let someone else take the job.
This position considers not only strength, but also the ability to manage and coordinate subordinates. It is not an easy job.
Kakashi nodded, indicating that he understood.
"By the way, now that your position has been promoted, the original position of captain of the second team will be vacant, let Tianzang take it."
Hiruzen remembered something and said to Kakashi.
"Tenzo? I understand."
Kakashi knew the reason why Hiruzen did this.
Although the ANBU minister was given to him, he did not completely delegate power to the ANBU.
Tenzo is an ANBU jounin who is loyal to the Hokage, and the captains of the other teams are in a similar situation.
If you think that if you become the ANBU Minister, you can do whatever you want in the ANBU. In a few days, he will be the ANBU Minister to the end.
It seems that we can't completely relax our vigilance yet. Kakashi thought to himself.
It's right to think about it. The ANBU merged into the security force will have even greater power. If the ANBU minister is really allowed to dominate the ANBU, no matter who uses it, he will not feel at ease, and some restrictions will definitely be added to the ANBU.
However, as long as he can do his job honestly and honestly, then the Hokage will only turn a blind eye and not interfere.
This power to independently select people to join the Anbu and the security team is the biggest gain for Kakashi.
As long as he has these two powers, he can easily completely paralyze the system of Konoha and the security forces, leaving Konoha's ANBU and security forces unable to do anything for half a year.
The so-called development time is squeezed out bit by bit in this way.
"Is there anything else you want to tell me, Hokage-sama?"
Kakashi asked.
"There is one more thing, it's about Uchiha Sasuke."
Hiruzen thought for a while and finally told Kakashi about Sasuke's problem.
"Uchiha Sasuke? The only survivor of the Uchiha genocide? What happened to him?"
Kakashi asked confused.
There was a slight embarrassment on Hiruzen's face, and he said to Kakashi: "It's not that he had any accidents, but according to what he said, a stone tablet located under the main hall meeting room of Nanga Shrine is missing. That stone tablet, It seems to be a very important thing to the Uchiha clan. He came here to find me before, wanting to find the whereabouts of the stone tablet. Hmm... let the ANBU investigate this matter for the time being, and you will be responsible for handling it. "
"I understand. I will take care of this."
The stone tablet under the main hall meeting room of Nanga Shrine?
That thing may have been carried away when the envoys from the Kingdom of Demons came to visit Konoha.
But Uchiha Sasuke definitely doesn't know about this.
The visit of the Demon Country envoys to Konoha was actually carried out in secret. There was no publicity in the village, and only a few people knew about it.
This was also arranged this way because the upper management did not want to cause unnecessary trouble in the village.
Those who knew about the incident were also ordered not to publicize it.
After completing the negotiations, the Demon Country envoys also left Konoha immediately. Generally speaking, no unexpected conflicts were caused, and the senior officials in the village breathed a sigh of relief.
But it may not be that easy to solve subsequent problems.
For example, the stone tablet that Hiruzen mentioned has been taken to the Kingdom of Demons. How to investigate this matter?
Even if the investigation is clear, he won't come back at all.
No matter what, it was impossible for Konoha to send someone to the Kingdom of Demons to get the stone tablet back.
Since the stone tablet has also been brought back to the Kingdom of Demons, it means that for the Uchiha clan, the stone tablet has extraordinary significance.
It is undoubtedly extremely difficult to get the stone tablet back from the Kingdom of Ghosts.
Therefore, the underlying meaning that Hiruzen wanted to express was already very clear. He could just find a reason that could convince Uchiha Sasuke and get rid of this matter.
Kakashi scratched his head. It seemed like he had no time to rest and read recently.
◎
Mt. Miaomu.
A holy place ruled by toads.
Toads can be seen everywhere here, whether they are palm-sized toads or toads as big as hills.
If ordinary people are new here, they may be surprised by such a scene, but to Jiraiya, every plant and tree here seems very friendly.
"Boss Fukasaku."
Jiraiya saw Fukasaku Sennin from a distance with his hands clasped together by the pond and practicing celestial arts, so he quickly walked over and called him.
Jiraiya's call came to his ears. Fukasaku Sennin came back from his training and opened his eyes. He seemed not surprised by Jiraiya's arrival:
"You are indeed here, little Jiraiya."
"really?"
Jiraiya was a little confused by Fukasaku Sennin's reaction.
Moreover, he didn't seem surprised that he came back intact.
Fukasaku Sage nodded and replied: "Yes, originally, the child and I were very worried about your safety when we were forced to teleport back to Miaomu Mountain that day, but the elder suddenly summoned us and told us not to worry too much. Because this time You will survive the disaster without any danger, and then return to Konoha safely. It seems that the elder's prediction is very accurate, and you are indeed fine."
"Does the Great Toad Immortal already know?"
Jiraiya was startled when he heard this. .
Even though he could look down upon most of the ninjas in the ninja world, he still felt extremely awe of the great toad sage who could peer into destiny.
The Great Toad Immortal predicted that he would get through the disaster without any danger this time. He was surprised, but if he thought about it carefully, it seemed reasonable and not worth making a fuss about.
"That aside, when you return to Miaomu Mountain this time, in addition to visiting us, you also want to ask the elder about something, right?"
It was as if Fukasaku Sennin had read through Jiraiya's thoughts.
Jiraiya nodded without concealment. When he came to Miaomu Mountain at this time, he did have some questions to ask the Great Toad Sage.
He is now deeply worried about the bad situation that may arise in the future of the ninja world.
He hoped to get some clues from the Great Toad Immortal, so that in the face of possible crises in the future, he could take precautions in advance to avoid greater casualties.
"I knew you would do this. The enemy you fought that day was really terrifying. Especially the boy with white hair and the weird red gun..."
Fukasaku Sennin thought of something at this time and said with lingering fear.
"How to say?"
Jiraiya asked confused.
"You still remember that during the battle that day, the child was just stabbed by that gun, and then your immortal mode canceled the incident, right?"
Fukasaku Sennin prompted.
"Yes, I remember this. What's wrong with that gun? Boss Fukasaku, do you know anything?"
Jiraiya's face turned serious.
It was precisely because Shima Sennin was accidentally stabbed by the strange-colored red spear that day that his sage mode was accidentally released.
It also paved the way for his subsequent defeat.
He still doesn't know how that gun cracked his immortal mode.
If you can't figure out the secret of that gun, even if you use the immortal mode next time, it will definitely be cracked.
In other words, if the secret of that gun is cracked, it might be possible to turn defeat into victory next time.
"I don't quite understand the specifics. I can only say that that gun is very dangerous for ninjas. Even us as immortals will be in trouble if we are stabbed. In short, little Jiraiya, you and me I’ll find out in a moment.”
After finishing speaking, Fukasaku Sennin jumped up in front and led Jiraiya.
Jiraiya followed Fukasaku Sennin's pace with uneasiness.
